KT Confirms No Calling Service Using WiBRO Network

KT confirmed that it will not use the WiBRO network to offer calling service. The calling service will be offered through not the WiBRO network but the 3G network. Also, the Wi-Fi access will be added. Since the Korea Communications Commission said that the calling service will be offered in the WiBRO network as its policy, many experts pay attention to a response of the commission to KT’s decision.KT Chairman Lee Seok-chae said, “WiBRO based mobile phone scheduled to be released in the second half will use the 3G network to offer the calling service. The WiBRO network will be used for the data service only. We do not have a plan to use the WiBRO network to offer the calling service.”Then, Chairman Lee said, “The WiBRO network is strong at the large-scale data service. We need to make a huge investment in the network if we introduce the calling service.”It is the first time that Chairman Lee expressed the opposition to the addition of the calling service to the WiBRO network since he took sworn in. This remark expresses that KT has no intent to build up the WiBRO network nationwide.Such a decision comes from its own analysis that the calling service via the WibRO network will need a huge investment without any guarantee for return on investment.The investment might be more than KRW 1 trillion to expand the current Seoul centered coverage to nationwide and upgrade the equipment to the Wave 2 standard.In this situation, the skeptic voice that the calling service overlapping with the 3G network will not have competitiveness in the market also made KT express the opposition to the calling service.KT plans to release a new mobile phone which use the 3G network in the available area for the calling service while using the WiBRO and WiFi network in other areas.Therefore, the commission’s policy to provide the calling service using the WiBRO network would not take place.The commission is encouraging service carriers to allow the calling service using the WiBRO network and new service carriers to join the market.Not only KT but also SK Telecom are also expressing the opposition to the addition of the calling service to the WiBRO network. Therefore, there is an alternative opinion that the commission should implement its policy through new service carriers.However, it is hard to see new service carriers coming for the WiBRO business. Also, as KT refuses to add the calling service to the WiBRO service, the government’s WiBRO promotion policy seems to lose its direction.